Health & fitness tips

1. Regular work outs may help to reduce your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, high-cholesterol, diabetes and obesity.
2. Staying active keeps joints, tendons and ligaments flexible, allowing you to move more easily and avoid injury.
3. Working out is a great way to help relieve stress and anxiety and you will naturally sleep better.
4. Be a role model for your kids.  Get them into healthy habits at a young age and it will stay with them through life.
5. Exercise is a fun way to spend time together as a family.
6. People who work out regularly have more energy and endurance for every day life.
7. Action packed holidays provide excellent fun filled time together as a family while exercising and learning a new skill.
8. When embarking on a fitness plan, set yourself attainable goals.
9. Recruiting a fitness buddy is always an added advantage when starting a fitness plan as they make it fun and keep you motivated.
10. At lunchtime, take 30 minutes for eating lunch and 30 minutes for a quick walk around the block or in a park near your office.
11. There are many exercises that can be done at home in 15 minutes or less, such as squats, skipping or toning exercises with free weights.
12. Keeping fit can help to reduce some of the effects of aging.
13. Give the car a rest, cycle or walk instead - choose the scenic versus the fastest route
14. Get off the bus a stop earlier and take the stairs instead of the lift or escalator.
15. Try going to bed earlier and getting up 30 minutes earlier so you can fit exercise into these 30 minutes.
16. Don't underestimate the power of rewards. Promise yourself something - a dinner out, a new pair of shoes or a good book - for attaining your goals.
17. Avoid skipping meals. This leads to low blood sugar which can cause sudden hunger pangs.
18. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It refuels your body after a night’s sleep and kick-starts your metabolism.
19. Swap white foods for the wholegrain option as wholegrains contain more fibre, so instead of white bread choose wholegrain or seeded breads, brown rice instead of white rice, and wholegrain breakfast cereals instead of refined, sugar-coated ones.
20. Grate carrots and courgettes into pasta sauce to boost your vegetable intake. This is also a good way to increase your kid’s vegetable intake, especially if there are fussy eaters in your house!
21. Keep a bowl of fruit on your desk at work or on the kitchen counter so that you always have something healthy to snack on.
22. Aim to eat 2 portions of oily fish a week such as mackerel, salmon and sardines for better heart health.
23. Aim to drink eight 200ml glasses of water a day. Water is essential to health and is needed to help your system to digest, absorb and transport nutrients, and it helps to regulate body temperature.
24. Eat moderate portions. If you keep portion sizes reasonable, it's easier to maintain or lose weight and stay healthy. Use smaller bowls, plates or cups to resist temptation.
25. If you are trying to lose weight use low fat dressings, low fat mayonnaise, mustard, horseradish and tomato based sauces whenever possible to reduce your calorie intake.

Get Fit without thinking

Calorie Busters Chart

Figures are for moderate exercise of 30minutes for someone weighing approximately 11 stone (68kg)

Note: Determining how many calories you burn is not an exact science. This number should only be used as an estimate of calorie expenditure. Depending on an individual’s fitness levels, this intensity may not be able to be sustained for the full 30 minutes.